5- C-Branched Deoxynojirimycin: Strategy for Designing a 1-Deoxynojirimycin-Based Pharmacological Chaperone with a Nanomolar Affinity for Pompe Disease

J Med Chem. 2022 Feb 10;65(3):2329-2341. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c01673. Epub 2022 Jan 24.

Abstract

In recent years, the function of pharmacological chaperones as a "thermodynamic stabilizer" has been attracting attention in combination therapy. The coadministration of a pharmacological chaperone and recombinant human acid α-glucosidase (rhGAA) leads to improved stability and maturation by binding to the folded state of the rhGAA and thereby promotes enzyme delivery. This study provides the first example of a strategy to design a high-affinity ligand toward lysosomal acid α-glucosidase (GAA) focusing on alkyl branches on 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ); 5-C-heptyl-DNJ produced a nanomolar affinity for GAA with a Ki value of 0.0047 μM, which is 13-fold more potent than DNJ. The protein thermal shift assay revealed that 10 μM 5-C-heptyl-DNJ increased the midpoint of the protein denaturation temperature (Tm) to 73.6 °C from 58.6 °C in the absence of the ligand, significantly improving the thermal stability of rhGAA. Furthermore, 5-C-heptyl-DNJ dose dependency increased intracellular GAA activities in Pompe patient's fibroblasts with the M519V mutation. The introduction of C5 alkyl branches on DNJ provides a new molecular strategy for pharmacological chaperone therapy for Pompe disease, which may lead to the development of higher-affinity and practically useful chaperones.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • 1-Deoxynojirimycin / analogs & derivatives*
  • 1-Deoxynojirimycin / pharmacology*
  • Alkylation
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / chemical synthesis
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / pharmacology*
  • Fibroblasts / metabolism
  • Glycogen Storage Disease Type II
  • Humans
  • Molecular Dynamics Simulation
  • Molecular Structure
  • Mutation
  • Protein Conformation / drug effects
  • Protein Stability / drug effects
  • Recombinant Proteins / drug effects
  • Recombinant Proteins / metabolism
  • alpha-Glucosidases / drug effects
  • alpha-Glucosidases / genetics
  • alpha-Glucosidases / metabolism*

Substances

  • Enzyme Inhibitors
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • 1-Deoxynojirimycin
  • GAA protein, human
  • alpha-Glucosidases